Top Health Care Stocks
JNJ +0.93%
PZE +2.33%
MRK +1.16%
ABT +2.40%
AMGN -0.06%
Health care stocks still were leading the U.S. markets higher near the close, with the NYSE Health Care Index climbing more than 1.7% while shares of health care companies in the S&P 500 were up nearly 1.4% as a group.
In company news, XOMA Corp ( XOMA ) advanced Tuesday after the antibody-based therapeutics company announced an exclusive license agreement worth up to $295 million with Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) for its XMetA program of allosteric monoclonal antibodies up-regulating the body's insulin receptors.
Under the terms of the agreement, XOMA retains commercialization rights for rare disease indications while Novo Nordisk has the option of adding those rights to its license. XOMA will receive a $5.0 million upfront payment payment from Novo Nordisk along with $290.0 million in additional payments tied to certain developmental, regulatory and commercial milestones. The deal also calls on Novo Nordisk to pay tiered royalties based on product sales.
XOMA shares were up more than 10% at $1.47 apiece, earlier climbing to a session high of $1.60 a share. NVO shares were up more than 2% at $56.21 each in late trade, staying within 3 cents of their session high.
In other sector news,
(+) DHRM, Hangzhou Liaison Interactive offers to buy 10 mln shares at $2.00, a 17.6% premium over Monday's closing price for the stock.
(-) AMSG, Plans public offering of 5.5 mln shares of its common stock. Net proceeds will be used to repay outstanding debt owed under its revolving credit facility that was used to fund a portion of its recent pipeline acquisitions.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
